Evaluation of a tailored epilepsy training program for healthcare providers in Uganda

Anita Arinda¹, Simple Ouma², Kenneth Kalani³, Pratamesh Ramasubramanian⁴, Tyler Johnson⁴, Antoinette Charles⁵, Colby Newson⁶, Olivia Ratliff⁴, Angelina Kakooza-Mwesige⁷, Paula Njeru⁸, Martin Kaddumukasa⁹, Mark Kaddumukasa¹⁰, Bradley Kolls¹¹, Aatif Husain¹², Dmitry Tchapyjnikov¹³, Michael Haglund¹⁴, Anthony Fuller¹⁴, Neil Prose¹⁵, Deborah Koltai¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Midmay Uganda, P.O. Box 24985, Kampala, Uganda; School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda.
² The AIDS support Organization (TASO) Uganda, P.O. Box 10443, Kampala, Uganda.
³ Ministry of Health, P.O. Box 7272, Kampala, Uganda.
⁴ Duke University Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
⁵ Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
⁶ University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
⁷ Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Mulago Hill Road, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda; Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Mulago National Referral Hospital, Pediatric Neurology Unit, Kampala, Uganda.
⁸ Duke Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neurology, Department of Neurosurgery, Box 3807, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA; Duke Global Health Institute, 310 Trent Dr, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
⁹ School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda.
¹⁰ School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda; Department of Medicine, Mulago National Referral Hospital, Neurology Unit, Kampala, Uganda.
¹¹ Duke Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neurology, Department of Neurosurgery, Box 3807, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA; Duke Clinical Research Institute, Neuroscience Medicine, 300 W Morgan St, Durham, NC 27701, USA; Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Durham, NC 27704, USA.
¹² Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Durham, NC 27704, USA; Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 299B Hanes House, 315 Trent Drive, P.O. Box 102350, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
¹³ Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Durham, NC 27704, USA; Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
¹⁴ Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Duke Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neurology, Department of Neurosurgery, Box 3807, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA; Duke Global Health Institute, 310 Trent Dr, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
¹⁵ Duke Global Health Institute, 310 Trent Dr, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Department of Dermatology and Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
¹⁶ Duke Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neurology, Department of Neurosurgery, Box 3807, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA; Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Durham, NC 27704, USA; Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, DUMC, Box 3119, Trent Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA. Electronic address: attix001@duke.edu.

PMID: 36446268
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108977

Evaluation of a tailored epilepsy training program for healthcare providers in Uganda

Anita Arinda et al. Epilepsy Behav. 2023 Jan.

. 2023 Jan:138:108977.

doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108977. Epub 2022 Nov 26.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Midmay Uganda, P.O. Box 24985, Kampala, Uganda; School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda.
² The AIDS support Organization (TASO) Uganda, P.O. Box 10443, Kampala, Uganda.
³ Ministry of Health, P.O. Box 7272, Kampala, Uganda.
⁴ Duke University Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
⁵ Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
⁶ University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
⁷ Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Mulago Hill Road, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda; Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Mulago National Referral Hospital, Pediatric Neurology Unit, Kampala, Uganda.
⁸ Duke Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neurology, Department of Neurosurgery, Box 3807, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA; Duke Global Health Institute, 310 Trent Dr, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
⁹ School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda.
¹⁰ School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda; Department of Medicine, Mulago National Referral Hospital, Neurology Unit, Kampala, Uganda.
¹¹ Duke Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neurology, Department of Neurosurgery, Box 3807, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA; Duke Clinical Research Institute, Neuroscience Medicine, 300 W Morgan St, Durham, NC 27701, USA; Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Durham, NC 27704, USA.
¹² Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Durham, NC 27704, USA; Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 299B Hanes House, 315 Trent Drive, P.O. Box 102350, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
¹³ Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Durham, NC 27704, USA; Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
¹⁴ Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Duke Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neurology, Department of Neurosurgery, Box 3807, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA; Duke Global Health Institute, 310 Trent Dr, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
¹⁵ Duke Global Health Institute, 310 Trent Dr, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Department of Dermatology and Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
¹⁶ Duke Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neurology, Department of Neurosurgery, Box 3807, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA; Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Durham, NC 27704, USA; Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, DUMC, Box 3119, Trent Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA. Electronic address: attix001@duke.edu.

PMID: 36446268
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108977

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluated an epilepsy training program for healthcare workers that was designed to improve their knowledge of epilepsy, its treatment, and its psychosocial effects.

Methods: This single group, before and after survey was conducted in three regional referral hospitals in Uganda. Healthcare workers participated in a 3-day epilepsy training program and were assessed immediately prior to and following the program using a 39-item epilepsy knowledge questionnaire. Pretest to posttest changes and acceptability ratings were analyzed.

Results: Twenty healthcare workers from each of our three study hospitals (N = 60) participated in the study. The average age of the participants was 39.9 years (SD = 9.6). Female participants constituted 45% of the study population. There was a significant improvement in the knowledge of healthcare workers about epilepsy following the training (t = 7.15, p < 0.001). Improvement was seen across the three sub-scores of general knowledge about epilepsy, assessment and diagnosis of epilepsy, and management of epilepsy. Subgroup analysis showed that both high and low baseline scorers showed significant training gains.

Conclusions: The study suggested that our training program was effective in improving the knowledge of health workers about epilepsy and that participants had favorable impressions of the program. Further work is needed to determine if the knowledge is retained over time and if the change in knowledge translates into a change in clinical practice.

Keywords: Epilepsy training program; Evaluation; Health care providers; Uganda.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Evaluation of a tailored epilepsy training program for healthcare providers in Uganda

Affiliations

Evaluation of a tailored epilepsy training program for healthcare providers in Uganda

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources